He's been behind...
Posted on 03/14/2024 12:27:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
BILLINGS, Mont.—A Montana rancher illegally used tissue and testicles from wild sheep killed by hunters in central Asia and the United States to breed “giant” hybrid sheep for sale to private hunting preserves in Texas, according to court documents and federal prosecutors.
Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, of Vaughn, Montana pleaded guilty to felony charges of wildlife trafficking and conspiracy to traffic wildlife during an appearance Tuesday before a federal judge in Great Falls. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Court documents describe a yearslong conspiracy, beginning in 2013, in which Mr. Schubarth and at least five other people sought to create “giant sheep hybrids” by cross-breeding different species. Their goal was to garner high prices from hunting preserves where people shoot captive trophy game animals for a fee.
Using biological tissue obtained from a hunter who killed a wild sheep in Kyrgyzstan belonging to the world’s largest species of animals—Marco Polo argali sheep—Mr. Schubarth procured cloned embryos of the animal from a lab, according to court documents.
The embryos were later implanted in an ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Mr. Schubert named “Montana Mountain King,” the documents show. Semen from Montana Mountain King was used to artificially impregnate other ewes to create a larger and more valuable species of sheep, including one offspring that he reached an agreement to sell to two people in Texas for $10,000, according to the documents.
Male argali sheep can top 300 pounds with horns up to 5 feet long, according to officials, making them prized among some hunters. They are protected under international convention as a threatened species and outlawed for import into Montana to protect native sheep from disease and hybridization.
A person who was not named in court documents shipped 74 ewes of a prohibited sheep species from Minnesota to Mr. Schubarth’s ranch to be artificially inseminated with Montana Mountain King semen, the documents show. Offspring that had only a portion of the central Asian sheep’s genetics sold for lesser amounts.
In 2019, Mr. Schubarth paid $400 to a hunting guide for testicles from a trophy-sized Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep killed in Montana. Mr. Schubarth extracted semen from bighorn sheep testicles and used it to breed large bighorn sheep and sheep crossbred with the argali species, the documents show.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Todd Kim described Mr. Schubarth’s actions as “an audacious scheme to create massive hybrid sheep species to be sold and hunted as trophies.” Mr. Kim said the defendant violated the Lacey Act which restricts wildlife trafficking and prohibits the sale of falsely labeled wildlife.
Mr. Schubarth said when reached by telephone on Wednesday that his attorney had advised him not to talk about the case.
“I would love to talk about it but can’t do it now,” he said. His attorney, Jason Holden, did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment.
Authorities agreed under the terms of a plea deal not to pursue further charges against the defendant pending his cooperation in the government’s ongoing investigation of the wildlife trafficking case.
Montana Mountain King is in the custody of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Department of Justice spokesperson Matthew Nies. As part of the plea deal, Mr. Schubert agreed to quarantine any other sheep containing Marco Polo argali genetics and any bighorn sheep that were harvested from the wild.
The deal also allows federal wildlife officials to inspect and, if needed, neuter the animals.
Captive animal facilities where game species can be raised and hunted were banned in Montana under a 2000 ballot initiative. But they remain legal in some other states.
Mr. Schubarth’s 215-acre ranch is state-licensed as an alternative livestock facility, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson Greg Lemon. It was grandfathered in when the 2000 ballot initiative passed and has continued to operate, although hunting is prohibited, Mr. Lemon said.
Sentencing for Mr. Schubarth is set for July 11 before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris.
The concern is importing pathogens to a naïve population.
Look what smallpox did to people in the new world.
A novel Mongolian form of, say, sheep anthrax could wipe out sheep ranching here.
Mad genius. Ethics sketchy.
He's been behind...
He is a criminal because he thought outside of the box and was successful. When the government is in the hand of despots even good laws and government become weapons of oppression.
Ask the Brits about their problems with the Eastern grey squirrel.
Could this have ended badly? Yes.
Would it for sure have? Probably.
100%? Always in motion the future is.
That guy started the X on Mexican soil that zz top sang about.........
Protected species.....
Bkmk
I am not sure I accept this account. There have been feral hogs in Texas since the Conquistadors brought in herds of them in the 1600's.
There needs to be a sheep club. With rules.
Our original feral hogs in Texas were domestics that were free ranged instead of penned. I and my buddies hunted these in the late 80’s into the 90’s.
Back then we would see Durocs, Chester Whites, Hampshires and others.
These breeds are not seen in the wild now due to interbreeding with Black Russians which seem the be dominate in genes.
I followed the reporting of Texas Parks and Wildlife of the arrest of those who were introducing the Black Russian hogs into the native population.
If people of such are bringing these exotic bighorn sheep to high fence Texas ranches, there is a threat that they will also release them into the Trans Pecos and Big Bend areas to cross with our native Bighorn sheep.
I would rather eat his giant sheep meat than this: https://allianceforscience.org/blog/2022/03/gene-edited-cows-just-secured-record-fast-fda-approval-heres-why/
Our food supply is pretty, tastes good, won’t make you sick immediately through some sort of bacteria or fungus... But IMHO it is extremely low quality unless you specifically go out of your way to get high quality food.
—The soil is often depleted and the nutritional value of the vegetables growing in it is up to 40% less in key minerals and vitamins.
—Pasteurization and irradiation kills probiotics in food.
—Paid by weight for the pig, what once a lean source of meat is today fatty.
—Our food supply is loaded with preservatives, aromatics, colors, artificial flavors, foaming agents, and taste intensifiers.
—Our agriculture is loaded with GMO, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
—Our livestock is loaded with hormones and antibiotics, raised in overcrowded conditions (sick animals), being fed food that is not even what this animal would naturally eat (cows eating fish-meal for example).
—We over-salt and add sugar to everything.
—Trying to make everything look pretty and taste good, but as cheap as possible, we substitute junk like HFCS for sugar, phosphoric acid for true caramel color, Canola oil is used to cook.
—Fast food normally mean fried food, extra heavy on the salt, everything is made to be store-able (low waste)...
—Mass agra like Monsanto and Cargill have led to the variety in vegetables and fruit being lost.
What you end up with is obese people that are actually starving! Fat folks that are actually NOT getting their recommended allowance in key vitamins and minerals, fiber... even though they are 50+ lbs over their ideal weight.
If you want to see what I mean: https://www.eatthis.com/cheeses-that-arent-real-cheese/ People don’t realize there are entire genre’s of food where it’s not even what you think it is. They can’t call it cheese, because it’s not. Just like Cool-Whip is not Whip-Cream, rather oil that has been processed to be a product similar to Whip-cream.
Another example: other than empty calories, what nutritional value does our white bread have? Whatever value it did have was stripped from it. It doesn’t even have fiber anymore. Looks pretty, taste good, but it has little nutrition.
Our food looks good, tastes good, it may even be marketed as healthy, but it’s low in nutrition, high in fats, salt, sugar and often HFCS to replace real sugar. In a Subway where you allegedly get your healthy meal and everyone is wearing FDA required hair and beard nets..., take a look at what you’re really eating.
You have to go out of your way to find quality food.
Yeah I like lamb chops but they’re kind of small. If Tyson did the same thing to sell big lamb chops at a big profit would fedgov have a problem with it or is it the fact that he was breeding them big for that evil act of hunting?
>>>There needs to be a sheep club. <<<
There already is one. It’s called the GOPe....................
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